Recommended music while reading this is Swimming in a Flood by Passion Pit. It really embodies Shane and Jimmy's relationship, I feel. :)
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Soft lips touched his tentatively, causing him to rear back in shock. "W-what? What are you doing?" Jimmy asked.
Shane, a good head shorter than Jimmy, lowered himself from his tiptoes and looked Jimmy straight in the eye. "I was kissing you," he responded in his characteristic, matter-of-fact way of speaking. "I apologize if this offended you."
"O-o-offended?" Jimmy shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Er, not, not offended, just, confused…" he finally managed to stammer out.
"Confused? About what?" Shane asked, tilting his head to the side. "I find you attractive and I showed this to you through the kiss. This is a very simple concept." Jimmy knew at this point in time that the annoyance in Shane's voice was simply a distinct part of Shane's personality; Shane was not actually angry with Jimmy for his confusion.
"But, I am confused about why you find me attractive," Jimmy responded quietly.
From an outside perspective, Jimmy's question was not altogether unprecedented. The only reason Jimmy and Shane talked was because Shane had been coerced by a meddling math teacher to tutor Jimmy in trigonometry, a topic which entered one of Jimmy's ears and never even made it as far as his brain, let alone his other ear. Jimmy was a basketball player on the junior varsity basketball team – he was mediocre at best. He stood at six foot, a pretty average height for a boy of seventeen years; on his head was a mop of dull brown hair, and his eyes were plain hazel. Every day he wore the same button up shirt and jeans, although occasionally he varied his color combinations.
Shane, on the other hand, was the mysterious, silver haired math genius who had no friends, not for lack of options but because he did not want to have any. He had entered the Lake Havasu school district in his freshman year of high school, immediately attracting the attention of boys and girls alike. Many had tried to understand the esoteric boy behind the golden eyes, but none had succeeded. He was lean and ate only organic, vegan food; he also rode his bike up hills even though he was old enough to drive and had a license. He was, quite simply, an overly attractive enigma who was completely inaccessible.
So for Shane to find Jimmy even remotely attractive was a shocker. Jimmy was not smart or exceedingly good at anything, really. His basketball 'buddies' made fun of his lackluster grades, boring parents, and average facial features every once in a while. However, most of the time they did not notice him enough to care.
"You always seem to ask silly questions," Shane responded to Jimmy acerbically, "such as, 'why does a triangle have 180 degrees?' Because that is how it is, Jimmy. A perfect triangle, in our current state of being, will always have 180 degrees because this is reality."
Jimmy flushed. Shane was referencing the first day of their tutoring, when Jimmy had come to meet Shane in the school library confused about the basic properties of a triangle.
"Are… are you kidding me?" Shane had responded when Jimmy had first breached the topic of triangles which had more or less than 180 degrees. Jimmy had flushed then, too.
"No," he said quietly. "I just don't really understand the idea of degrees, I guess."
"First, stop using contractions. Contractions are a lazy way of expressing thoughts, and if I am to be your tutor I will not tolerate it. Second, I simply do not understand how you are having trouble with such a simple concept. How did you even make it out of sixth grade math?"
The words stung Jimmy more than he would have liked to admit. He did not like to think about his sixth grade math class or the ensuing difficulties he had had with the same teacher in seventh and eighth grade. "I must've missed that lesson," he said softly.
Shane cocked his head to the side, noting Jimmy's discomfort. "I did not mean to offend," he said evenly. "However, in order to understand trigonometry, you must understand degrees. Do you know what an angle is?"
Jimmy nodded. "An angle is a, uh, a corner. In a shape."
"Essentially yes. The mathematical terminology would be the convergence of two rays at a common endpoint," Shane explained.
"Two whats at a common what?" Jimmy asked stupidly.
"Two lines which come together to a point, like this," Shane said, holding his two index fingers up at a sixty degree angle. Then, Shane moved his index fingers to a ninety degree angle. "Do you see how certain angles are sharper than others?"
"Yeah."
" 'Yes' is the proper word you are looking for. Degrees measure the sharpness of that angle. This is a ninety degree angle. When I make the angle very sharp," Shane said, moving his fingers to somewhere around fifteen degrees, "the degree amount lessens. This is probably somewhere around fifteen degrees. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah- er, yes," Jimmy said, scribbling down the mathematical concepts in his notebook with earnest. Shane cocked his head to the side, somewhat surprised. Jimmy was not a terrible student in his other subjects (unlimited, illegal access to the school's server could come in handy sometimes, especially when one wanted to dig up info on his prospective tutee) but he had consistently failed his math classes. It was clear from Jimmy's eagerness to learn that he was not a bad student; he simply lacked the necessary skills to succeed. He did not even know simple, fundamental concepts like degrees. How was he supposed to progress in math when most of it depended on understanding shapes? Not to mention, it did not appear as if Jimmy had had an education in algebra either, which was a standard skill taught in junior high. Shane had a lot of work to do.
He clearly will not be hard to teach. I can help him. But the real question is, why has no one else already done so?
"So, we will meet here tomorrow after school as well," Shane said at the end of their hour-long session.
Jimmy looked up in surprise. "Really?"
Shane glared in an intimidating way, which was ironic because of his slight size. "Yes. I will teach you how to do math, and you will learn. I do not care if you do not want me to teach you."
Jimmy blushed and shook his head. "I wasn't trying to sound ungrateful," he murmured. "I just didn't think you'd want to teach me anymore." I'm so dumb.
"I will not want to if you insist upon using contraction after contraction," Shane muttered, eliciting a small grin out of Jimmy.
"Well, thanks," Jimmy muttered, looking at the table. "I'll – er, I will – try to make this up to you."
Shane realized at that moment that Jimmy, for all that he seemed to be a lout, was actually quite sweet.
It was not for five more meetings, sometime in the third week of their tutoring, that it finally hit Shane that Jimmy was actually quite good at math. After finally understanding what degrees and angles were, shapes were easy for Jimmy and made sense to him. Shane discovered that Jimmy had figured out how to measure perimeters, volumes, and areas without being taught, and he had discovered pi all by himself.
"So today, we will begin with circles," Shane had said, slapping down a picture of a circle in front of Jimmy on the table in the library. "We have been working with areas and perimeters of triangles and quadrilaterals, in which you have made excellent progress." Shane noted Jimmy's embarrassed flush at the compliment. "Today, we are going to be moving on to understanding circles. Do you know what a circumference is?"
Jimmy shook his head softly, clearly worried to anger his tutor.
"That is quite alright. I had not expected that you would. Circumference is merely the word we use to describe the perimeter of a circle. It is quite simple to deduce; however, I must explain pi to you if we are going to continue. Do you know anything about pi?"
Jimmy had looked very confused at this moment in time. "Er, maybe I didn't hear you correctly. Pie? Are we talking about pie because a pie is a circle?"
"Pi is not a circle," Shane said with a glower. "It is a ratio."
"Well, it comes in a circular pan then," Jimmy muttered, looking off to the side with a grimace. It was not as if he understood what the word 'ratio' meant either.
Shane stared at the taller boy for a moment before chuckling gently. Jimmy looked at him with surprise because Shane did not laugh often in the presence of others. Shane himself could not remember a time he had ever laughed at school. "Jimmy, I am not talking about the kind of pie you eat. I am talking about the number that we call pi. Here, I'll show you," Shane said, ripping out a blank piece of notebook paper and writing: Pi: π: 3.14.
Jimmy looked at the paper in shock. "Y-you know about 3.141?"
"Well, most generally shorten it to 3.14. But yes, I know about 3.14. In fact, everyone does. Why, do you?"
"Yeah! I use that all the time! I figured it out after I built two circular train sets for my brother; I had to build one that was twice as long as the other, and I wasn't sure how wide I needed to make it. So I measured the width of the first one and divided the outside – er, the circumference – by it, then I divided the second circumference by that number I got. Of course, I felt like an idiot when it was simply twice as wide as well. But then I realized that that number was really cool because if you multiply the width of a circle by it, you always get the perimeter. I sometimes build things with it, like my little bro's tree fort. He wanted it to be a circle you know. I just had to find the out—circumference, I mean, and then multiply it by how tall I wanted it to be to figure out how much wood I needed on the outside." Jimmy was grinning widely, which was somewhat strange for him. Usually, Shane observed him looking serious, embarrassed, or melancholy.
For a moment, Shane was puzzled by Jimmy's explanation before it clicked. "Oh. By width you mean diameter. I see…" Shane steepled his fingers under his chin and looked across the table at his tutee. "You figured out one of the most fundamental concepts of geometry all by yourself?"
Jimmy's grin disappeared and was replaced by contemplation. "I – I did? Really? It doesn't seem all that fundamental."
"It does not, but it is. π – which is what we call that number, 3.14 – is an integral part of understanding all circles, cylinders, cones, and so on. Circles are very important in higher learning as well. Physics uses π quite often."
Jimmy nodded. "Oh. What else can we use π for besides the outside of a circle?"
"Besides the circumference, we can use π to calculate the area…"
Jimmy was not only good at math – he was a math whiz. He could do three digit multiplication problems in his head; he knew how to calculate percents at stores without having been taught to do so; he took to geometry like a kitten to catnip. Shane simply had not realized how intelligent Jimmy really was, and it appeared that Jimmy had not understood either. Jimmy's true scholarly aptitude had not shown because, while he was alright at literature and social studies, mathematics was his true calling. While before Jimmy's transcript had portrayed him as a mediocre failure, Shane was uncovering his true academic prowess, the subject that would balance out the mediocre grades of the other subjects.
But the primary question remained: why had Jimmy not received a proper mathematical education before?
Jimmy, of course, was in heaven. He would attend his Geometry I class (the only junior in a class of freshman) and suddenly, everything made sense. He was able to raise his hand and answer questions, and his first test since the tutoring had been returned to him with a ninety-one percent. He had never gotten past a forty percent on a math test in his life. His teacher, Ms. Kendle, was impressed and proud of his sudden improvement and praised him quietly after classes when the rest of the irritating freshman had left.
Jimmy, of course, had only Shane to thank. Jimmy thought Shane was the best teacher he had ever had. He could not even imagine learning from anyone else. In fact, Jimmy was starting to like Shane quite a bit. They met two or three times a week, and Shane never failed to leave Jimmy in a better mood than he had come to the library in. Shane was Jimmy's lifeline in the horrible mess that was his high school education.
In fact, it had gotten to the point where Jimmy actually wanted to befriend the un-befriendable. Jimmy knew Shane was way out of his league, and that Shane voluntarily did not have any friends, but Jimmy decided to take the plunge anyway. "Shane?" Jimmy asked one day at the end of their session.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering if… er, well." Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "Friday night at the outdoor movie theater, that movie, Good Will Hunting, is playing. It's, er, about math. If you haven't seen it. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come with me to see it? I haven't seen it before…"
Shane did not hesitate to say, "Only if you ask me properly."
Jimmy grinned. Shane's contraction pet peeve was amusing, although sometimes a little bothersome. "I'm – er, I am sorry. Would you like to come to the outdoor movie theater to see Good Will Hunting with me on Friday night?"
Shane nodded. "I would be delighted, seeing as I was planning to attend by myself anyway. You will come to my house with your car and pick me up," Shane said. He did not request. He wrote his address down on the bottom of a scrap of paper and thrust it in Jimmy's hand. "This is where you will come at 5:00 PM."
"S-sure thing…"
They attended the movie together, and Jimmy found himself enjoying it. He almost felt like the main character, whose potential was unleashed after being repressed for so long, except Jimmy would never consider himself a math genius. Shane appeared to have enjoyed himself as well. After it ended, Shane's mouth was turned slightly upward, almost as if he was grinning. Shane did not smile very often, so it was nice to see him having fun.
Jimmy then dropped Shane off at his house, sometime around 11 PM. "So… I'll see you on Monday?" Jimmy said.
"You will," Shane responded, "at tutoring. We are starting sines and cosines, so be prepared."
Jimmy grinned, knowing there was no way for him to prepare for whatever Shane had in store, especially since he had no idea what a sign or a cosign was. "Most definitely." Shane then hopped out of the car lithely and walked up the path to the front door of his small white house. Jimmy turned his car on and was about to drive away when he noticed that Shane appeared to be having difficulty getting inside. Jimmy switched the car off and left his car. "You alright?" he yelled to Shane.
Shane gave him a dirty look. Or, Jimmy assumed so – he could not really see at this time of night, but Jimmy certainly would have been unhappy. "Does it look like I'm alright?" Shane growled as Jimmy walked up next to him.
"You used a contraction," Jimmy pointed out helpfully.
"I DID NOT. I would never use one of those… SHUT UP." Shane was incredibly angry and he rattled his own door knob maliciously. "I cannot get in. I left my key inside when you picked me up." Shane gave Jimmy a glare illuminated by the porch light that said, this is all your fault! Realistically, it was not, but Jimmy did not mind. It was worth Shane's ire to see him show some emotion.
"Can you sneak in through a window?" Jimmy asked in a conciliatory tone.
Shane shook his head. "No. I… I keep them all locked."
"How come?"
"I do not wish for a burglar to attack me," Shane muttered in an embarrassed growl. Jimmy thought he looked quite cute when he admitted his paranoid tendencies. "This is not the point, however. I must find a way inside."
"Is one of your parents home?" Jimmy asked, almost instantly regretting the question when, instead of getting more angry, Shane went emotionless.
"No. Mother is on a business trip, and I do not know where Father is."
"I can drive you to a relative's," Jimmy said, trying to change the subject quickly.
"They are very far from here," Shane muttered. "An hour or so south."
"It's alright. I don't mind the drive. Or, if you aren't uncomfortable, I'll let you sleep at my house." Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and looked down at the ground. "Either way, I'll make sure you have a place to sleep tonight. Just let me know what you'd prefer to do."
"I would prefer if you stopped using contractions. I would also prefer it if you did not have to make a long drive in the middle of the night, so I will stay at your house, if you are amenable."
Jimmy grinned, giddy at his luck. "Yeah! Er. Yes. Absolutely. I'd love it – er, I would love it if you spent the night. We can figure out the mess in the morning."
So Shane and Jimmy quietly walked up the stairs of Jimmy's parents' house, not wanting to wake up Jimmy's parents. In Jimmy's room, Shane asked, "Will your parents be angry?" He did not really care about the answer; he just wanted a moment to look around Jimmy's room. It was very bare. There were no awards, no pictures, and no posters. Shane did note a guitar case peeking out from underneath the bed, but he did not say anything about it. All in all, it was really quite sad.
Jimmy pulled off his jacket and put it in his closet. "I doubt it. They don't really care about anything." They don't really care about me.
Shane did not respond to Jimmy's blatant use of don't. "Well, shall I sleep on the floor?" Shane asked.
"No, of course not!" Jimmy said. "You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the floor."
"The only things you will be taking are the copious amount of apostrophes out of your dialogue." At Jimmy's blank look, Shane clarified. "Stop using contractions." Jimmy nodded in understanding. "We can share the bed. It is large enough for two, I would presume, seeing as it is a King Size."
"Er, right," Jimmy said. "D'ya want a shower or anything?"
"I am fine. I am actually very tired and would prefer to sleep," Shane said. Jimmy nodded and provided Shane with some gray pajama pants and a T-shirt. They changed looking away from each other, and after they were finished, Jimmy noted that his clothes were quite baggy on his tutor.
"Well, I'm gonna go to sleep," Jimmy said, crawling under the covers. Shane gave him a pointed look. "I am going to go to sleep," Jimmy corrected himself. Shane nodded brusquely and crawled under the covers as well, setting his glasses on the side table. "Good night?" Jimmy asked more than said.
"Why did you not receive a proper mathematical education?" Shane asked, completely ignoring Jimmy's question/courtesy.
"Excuse me?"
"I asked why you did not receive a proper education in mathematics. You are quite good at it and should be in high level calculus right now."
"I'm tired, I wanna go to sleep," Jimmy said, turning so that his back was to Shane.
"Please tell me," Shane asked. "If I am to continue to tutor you, I need to know why you came to be under my tutelage." It was a lame excuse; Shane was honestly just very curious.
"I just did not like my math teacher, alright?" Jimmy said. "Now I am tired. Let me go to sleep."
Shane did not respond, realizing it would be unwise to continue blundering into Jimmy's life, instead settling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. He liked to stare at the ceiling for an hour or so before sleeping, letting his thoughts run through his head so he could process his day. Jimmy's ceiling was a wonderful ceiling; he had attached glowing stars overtop of a criss-cross wood pattern. It was the only interesting thing about the room besides Jimmy himself.
After a few minutes, Jimmy turned over onto his back as well. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"Pardon me?"
"I am sorry I snapped at you."
"Ah. I see. It is of no matter."
Jimmy sighed. "It really is. I… I can be such a bad person sometimes. You shouldn't – should not, I mean – have to take the brunt of my terribleness. I hope you don't want to stop tutoring me."
Shane turned so that he was on his side, facing towards Jimmy. "I do not want to stop tutoring you. I enjoy your company, and I do not find you "terrible" in the slightest. Now I am actually tired, so I think we should sleep." He returned to his back and shut his eyes.
"Alright. Good night Shane."
In the morning, before Jimmy had woken (he appeared to be a late riser), Shane traveled down the stairs and met Jimmy's parents. "Hello," he said to them as he walked into the kitchen. "I am Shane, it is nice to meet you."
Jimmy's father looked quite a bit like Jimmy, with the same brown hair and high cheekbones. The only things noticeably different were his eyes, which were green and beady, and the moustache which he had grown on his face. He was wearing a blue plaid bathrobe and was sipping coffee while reading the paper – such a typical way for a suburban American man to spend his Saturday morning.
Jimmy's mother was a tiny, timid looking woman, with dirty blonde hair pulled into a ponytail. She appeared to be the source of Jimmy's attractive hazel eyes, although hers were much duller than his. She was wearing a light yellow summer dress and an apron and was flipping bacon on the stove.
They both gasped when Shane walked inside the kitchen. "Excuse me?" Jimmy's father asked. "What are you doing in my house?" He stood up, slamming his coffee on the table. Shane noted with glee that it spilled just slightly over the rim, revealing the imperfection of the suburbanite scene.
"Please calm yourself. I am one of Jimmy's friends. Last night I was having some difficulty getting into my house and needed a place to stay. Today I will fix that. I was merely wondering if I may use your telephone, because your son is still asleep and I would not wish to wake him."
Both of Jimmy's parents looked at him with trepidation. "Yes, the phone is in the living room," Jimmy's father finally said, sitting back down. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Shane. Shane Leberknight."
"You're not on the basketball team, are you?" Shane's father seemed to think that it would be absurd for Shane to be on the team, which made sense, seeing as Shane was short, thin, and wore glasses.
"No, I am not. I am Jimmy's math tutor."
"Why does he need a tutor?" Jimmy's mother asked. She sounded like she looked – like a captured field mouse, quiet and squeaky.
Shane figured it would have been obvious. "Because he was terrible at math until I started teaching him."
"Our Jimmy? Really? I never noticed," his mother said.
Shane narrowed his eyes. "Really now. How interesting. May I use your telephone now?"
"Of course," Jimmy's mother said. "In the living room."
Shane entered the living room with anger stewing inside of him. How dare those people call themselves Jimmy's parents? They seemed more like innkeepers. Jimmy had failed math two years in a row and they had never noticed? Shane picked up the telephone and dialed his mother's cell phone number.
"Jackie Leberknight speaking."
"Hello Mother," Shane said.
"Shane! Hi!" Jackie sounded very enthusiastic. "How are you baby?"
"I am fine, Mother," Shane replied, masking a grin at his mother's antics. "I merely called to ask if you know of anyone who has a spare key to our house. I appear to have locked myself out."
"Oh no! Shane that's terrible!" Jackie sounded distraught. "When did this happen?"
"Last night. I stayed with a boy from school. Jimmy. I am tutoring him in mathematics."
"Oh dear, you've finally let someone become a friend!" Jackie said, sounding overly pleased. "I am so proud of you honey. I wish I was there to meet him. What is his name?"
"Jimmy. I just told you that, Mother. He is… nice."
Shane could practically see his mother's ridiculous grin at his words. "Mother, it is not l-like that!" he sputtered. Something he never did.
"Sure it isn't sweetie!" Jackie was ecstatic. "Well you need to let me know if you begin to like him as more than just a friend, okay?"
"Mother! Please! I did not tell you that part of myself so that you could make fun of me!" Shane said in irritation.
"Oh sweetie," Jackie said, sounding suddenly sad. "I wish I was there right now so that I could hug you. You know I'll be home in a week…"
"That is what you always say," Shane muttered in response. "Mother, please do not get off topic. Where might I find a key to get inside of our house?"
"Well, darling, your grandparents are the only people I can think of who have a key, from when they housesat for us two years ago, and I know you don't have a car to drive all the way to Parker," Jackie said, sounding a bit distressed.
"Ah. Well, perhaps I can take a bus," Shane responded. "Or maybe Grandfather will drive up here to bring the key to me." Both Jackie and Shane knew this was an impossibility. Grandfather was staunchly anti-homosexual. When Shane had told the family, most of them had accepted it as another random quirk in Shane's long list of eccentricities. However, the patriarch himself had declared that Shane was not a true part of the family anymore. Jackie had not been on very good terms with her father since.
"Honey, will you call me and let me know what you end up doing?" Jackie asked plaintively.
"Of course Mother. I will call you back within the hour I imagine."
"Okay! I love you sweetie."
Shane did not respond, but Jackie knew he loved her too. "Bye Mother."
Shane returned to the kitchen. "Thank you for letting me use your phone, uh…"
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith is fine," Shane's father – Mr. Smith – responded.
Shane had not had many friends, but he had been under the impression that friends' parents generally allowed one to call them by their first names. Jimmy's parents were very peculiar. "Alright. Do you know what time it is?"
"It is around 10:30," Mr. Smith answered.
"Okay. I will return to Jimmy's room now," Shane said, looking for any excuse to get out of the awkward situation in the kitchen. He opened the door quietly and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the brunette jock.
Jimmy was not at all like he appeared. Jimmy was completely different – kind and modest rather than boring and abrasive as Shane had assumed upon their first meeting. Jimmy was relaxing to be around, quite unlike most of the people at LHHS. They all tried to ingratiate themselves with him, complimenting him unduly and offering him things he did not want, such as alcohol and weed. They said he was mysterious and that they loved the mystery; they said he was attractive and that they would worship him in bed. They said that they alone were the ones who could understand him and deal with him and his odd quirks.
But Jimmy. Jimmy never did that. Jimmy enjoyed Shane's company, which was clear enough to see, but Jimmy was not presumptuous and rude. People wanted to crack Shane; they wanted to uncover his mystery so that they could be the one who had done it. Jimmy was not like that. Jimmy was happy enough simply to be with him.
But no one appreciated his kind nature. Jimmy had no real friends, and his parents clearly did not pay the slightest bit of attention to him. And there was still the question of the mysterious sixth grade math class. All in all, Shane was not pleased with the way the world treated Jimmy.
"What time's it?" came a groggy voice from under the covers.
"It is around 10:45," Shane responded.
"Oh fuck," Jimmy said, twisting and throwing off the covers. Shane inwardly smiled; he had never heard Jimmy cuss before but it was quite adorable. "Sorry about that," Jimmy said, sitting up so that his feet were hanging off the edge of the bed. "I thought I would end up waking up when you did, since I'm a pretty light sleeper. How long have you been up?"
"Not long, actually," Shane responded. "I met your parents."
Jimmy turned around to sit cross-legged, facing Shane. "You met my parents? Why would you do something like that?"
"Well, they were sitting in the kitchen when I walked down there."
Jimmy put his forehead in his hands. "Were they horribly rude to you?"
"No they were not."
"That's good. They can be sometimes."
"I gathered as much. They did not even know about your math problems," Shane said accusingly.
Jimmy's head snapped up. "So, what are we going to do about your house?"
Shane grimaced at the blatantly obvious change of subject. "I called my Mother. My grandparents have a spare key."
Jimmy looked happy. "Great! So do you just need me to drive you there?"
Shane shook his head. "I would not ask that. It is an hour from here, in Parker."
Jimmy shrugged. "That's not a big deal. I have nothing else going on today. Unless you already had a way to get there," Jimmy backpedaled, clearly thinking that he had overstepped his boundaries.
"I… did not have a way to get there," Shane admitted. "I will pay you back."
"Don't worry dude! You already saved my life, so consider this one on the house," Jimmy grinned.
The two traveled downstairs, Shane going into the living room to call his grandparents and mother. Jimmy went into the kitchen to tell his parents of his plans for today.
"I am going to drive Shane to his grandparents' house to pick up his spare key," Jimmy said as he grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate in the middle of the table.
"As long as you get your homework done," his mother said absently as she flipped through a book.
Jimmy was a little disappointed. They had not asked how far away Shane's grandparents were, nor had they wished him safety or a good trip. "Well… I'll be gone all day."
Shane's father looked up from his paper. "Don't bring friends around without asking us anymore, Jimmy."
"Dad, he had no place to go," Jimmy said, starting to feel embarrassed. Shane might be able to hear this from the living room.
"I don't care, Jimmy! This is our house so you will follow our rules!" Mr. Smith responded. Jimmy looked to his mother for support, but she was enthralled with her romance novel. Why did his parents always have to be so unreasonable?
"Dad, I was just being a good friend," Jimmy said softly.
"And you were being a bad son. Don't do it again." End of conversation. Jimmy sighed, picking at his bacon disconsolately. I'm not really a bad son, am I?
"Jimmy, I have made the appropriate calls," Shane said, coming into the kitchen.
Jimmy grinned at his friend. "Sweet! Do you want some bacon? I can cook up some eggs for you too."
"Well, I am a vegan, but if you had bread then toast would be most agreeable," Shane acquiesced, seating himself down at the table. Jimmy quickly apologized for forgetting that Shane was a vegan and popped some toast in the toaster for him. The silence in the kitchen was awkward until Shane's parents both decided to make themselves scarce.
"So, I was studying up on that Least Common Multiple thing," Jimmy mentioned as they waited for the toaster to pop.
"Yes?"
"Yeah, it was really interesting. There are some awesome patterns," Jimmy said. Shane realized pretty quickly that Jimmy was just talking without having a point to it. His mouth upturned just slightly. Jimmy was just so… adorable.
"There are some amazing patterns," Shane agreed.
"Oh, and did you know that if you want to divide a fraction, you actually have to multiply it by its reciprocity?"
"Reciprocal. And yes, I did."
"Of course you would," Jimmy said with a blush. "You're so smart."
Shane was stunned. He had been called a certifiable genius by Ph.D.s, an intellectual by most of his teachers, and intelligent by his peers when they wanted something from him, such as the answers to the homework from the night before or for him to lower his guard. But people did not just compliment him without a reason, no one but his mother. They all wanted something from him; the Ph.D.s wanted to understand him, the teachers wanted him to bring up their test scores, and his peers wanted to 'unravel his mystery.' But Jimmy had said this so matter-of-factly, without a motive. He simply believed Shane was smart.
"Thank you Jimmy," Shane responded truthfully.
Jimmy looked bashful. "Well, I'm sure you hear it all the time- oh the toast is done!" Jimmy popped the toast onto a plate. "Would you like some jelly? We have… let me see," Jimmy said as he opened the refrigerator. "We have strawberry and raspberry."
"I would prefer raspberry."
"Raspberry toast coming right up!" Jimmy said, spreading the jelly with an experienced hand before handing the toast to Shane with a flourish, getting down on one knee. "Your Majesty, I have completed the sacred meal."
So Jimmy could be silly! This was an interesting development. Shane personally did not like being silly, and he often found it annoying when others were as well, but he found it very endearing in Jimmy simply because it was clearly a rarity. "You forgot to cast the sacred spell," he muttered. He did not really know how to 'play.'
"Oh, of course Your Highness!" Jimmy said, pretending to be repentant. "By the powers of the wind and the earth I call upon the spirits to bless this kingly meal for King Shane so that he may, er, become powerful and wise! Alakazam!"
Shane took the toast from Jimmy, shaking his head. "You are silly."
Jimmy stood up. "Yeah, I don't know what came over me," he said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.
"I imagine you have not had anyone to be silly with for a long time. I will introduce you to my mother when she returns from her trip. You and she will get along splendidly."
The drive to Shane's grandparents' house was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Shane liked that Jimmy could appreciate silence as well as noise. Every once in a while, a sign would remind Jimmy of something, and he would start talking. He loved to talk about anything, but Shane had not realized until he had gotten to know Jimmy well that Jimmy did not talk to people he did not know. When Shane had first met Jimmy in the library that fated day, Jimmy had been incredibly quiet. But now he was finally opening up and revealing his true self, which was not a bad thing.
Shane decided during that car ride that he had to have him.
His grandfather was difficult as usual, but Shane managed to get the key. Jimmy gave him a thoughtful look when Shane returned after so long looking quite harassed. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes. Grandfather is simply someone I do not wish to be around for more than ten seconds," Shane said grumpily.
"Well, let's not stick around then," Jimmy said before starting the car and driving back to the highway.
After the hour long drive back, which was also comfortably quiet, scattered words but no forced conversation, Jimmy parked on the street in front of Shane's house again. "Well, I suppose I'll see you on Monday?" Jimmy said.
"Of course you will. I told you that yesterday," Shane said, purposefully injecting more irritation in his voice than he actually felt at the question. Surprisingly, Jimmy just beamed.
"Sweet! Uh. I mean. Cool. See you then!"
Shane nodded before exiting his car.
On Sunday, Shane decided that he needed to call Ms. Kendle. Ms. Kendle was not only Jimmy's Geometry I teacher, but she was also the chair of the math department. "This is she, may I ask who's calling?"
"It is Shane Leberknight," Shane said.
"Oh! Shane! It's nice to hear from you. I don't believe we've talked since I set up you up as Jimmy's tutor. How is that going?"
"I am actually calling about Jimmy, Ms. Kendle. He has a very poor mathematical record."
Ms. Kendle sighed. "Yes, I agree. But, he has been improving quite drastically since you began tutoring him. What's your secret?"
"I taught him what degrees are. And what 'pi' is. And how to find the volume of a rectangular prism. See, Ms. Kendle, for some strange reason Jimmy did not know these things before. I have found that, upon receiving proper instruction, he has been progressing fabulously." Shane could not keep the slight accusation out of his tone.
"Ah – er – he didn't know what degrees were?" She sounded quite shocked.
"No. He also did not know about pi, or about angles, or about any sort of algebra. I have been quite confused, before coming to the conclusion that he simply had a poor foundational education." Shane looked to his computer, reading the junior high information he had pulled up (illegally) about Jimmy. "It appears that his middle school teacher, for all three years, was a certain Gary Hannigan?"
"Mr. Hannigan! He is such a nice man," Ms. Kendle said, sounding dangerously infatuated.
"Right. What can you tell me about him?"
"Hm, well, he is the normal math teacher at the junior high. He generally teaches a class of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. He is in his thirties, probably thirty nine or so now. He went to the University of Arizona to receive his teaching degree. Hm. I don't know too much else about him. He is always a riot at the union meetings!"
"Interesting. So… he is a well-liked teacher?"
"He certainly is. I have never encountered a student who didn't like him," Ms. Kendle responded dreamily. "Why don't you go to the middle school and chat with him? I am sure he'd know plenty about Jimmy's mathematical background."
"That sounds like a good idea Ms. Kendle."
"Thanks for calling, Shane!"
Shane hung up.
The next day, after school, Shane met with Jimmy in the library. "Jimmy, I am going to teach you about sines and cosines today, but I must leave early."
"Oh." Jimmy looked a bit droopy at that news, which gave Shane a bit of a glowy feeling on the inside. He liked knowing that Jimmy wanted to spend time with him. "Okay then."
"I will make it up to you by having an extra short session this week."
Jimmy's smile at this news was even better than his despair at the original news. "Sweet!!"
"Now, sines…"
At 2:45, Shane stood up to leave. "Our extra session will be tomorrow, okay? But… we should do it at my house tomorrow."
Jimmy cocked his head. This was wonderful news, but it seemed unprecedented. "How come?"
"I am sick of this library. Meet me at your car right after school tomorrow."
Jimmy grinned. "Yes your Majesty."
They parted ways upon leaving the library. Shane left the school and walked the ten minutes that it took to reach the middle school and entered just as their classes were ending.
"You there," Shane said, grabbing a random young boy by the arm. "Tell me where Mr. Hannigan's classroom is."
The boy looked frightened but managed to rattle off a room number – 105 – which Shane followed. He entered the classroom and saw that there were a few students milling about and a few working on what looked like math problems. Mr. Hannigan appeared to hold an after class study hall.
"Are you Mr. Hannigan?" Shane asked to the man behind the desk. The middle-aged man, sitting and scribbling on some pieces of paper, appeared to be of slightly less than average height, with salt and pepper hair and slight stubble on his chin. He was wearing slacks with a nice button up shirt and tie. He looked… like a cool, suave teacher.
"Yes, I am. Who are you?"
"My name is Shane Leberknight."
Mr. Hannigan stood up. "Shane! This is such an honor! I have heard much about you from my colleagues at the high school!" Mr. Hannigan stretched his hand out for a handshake, which Shane declined.
"I need to speak with you in private."
"Ah, well, the kids are all here right now, so maybe another-"
Shane stared coolly. "I must speak with you right now. It is a matter of utmost importance. I am here about a certain Jimmy Smith."
The namedrop was what did it. Mr. Hannigan's eyes widened just fractionally before he said, "Kids, I have to end math lab early today!"
There was a chorus of "Aww!" from the entire group as all of the students started to pack up their school supplies. In just under two minutes, the entire classroom was empty. Mr. Hannigan looked tentatively at Shane.
"What do you want?"
"I am Jimmy's math tutor," Shane explained. "I merely am curious about why he seems to lack certain fundamental pieces of mathematical knowledge."
"Oh!" For some reason, Mr. Hannigan looked relieved. "Well, he was never very good at math. He acted up in class a lot and made it hard for the others to learn. I had to give him detention a lot for being so irritating, honestly. Not that he showed up enough to really punish properly. Why do you ask?"
Hm. This was curious. "Really? He was absent often?"
"Oh God yes!" Mr. Hannigan responded. "He was gone at least half of the time. That is probably why he is having difficulty now, because he skipped so much class when he was here."
"That is curious, Hannigan."
"Um, why don't you call me Mr. Han-"
Shane placed his hands on the desk and stared intently at the teacher. "I reserve that terminology for those I fully respect. Why did Jimmy receive A's in all of your classes, Hannigan?"
Hannigan stepped back, on the other side of the desk, as if trying to put as much space between himself and Shane as possible. "Excuse me?"
"I asked, if Jimmy was so stupid and disrespectful, why did he receive A's?"
"Excuse me? You don't know what Jimmy's grades were," Hannigan said with a sneer.
"Oh believe me, I have my sources," Shane said with a smirk. "So will you answer my question?"
Hannigan did not seem to have a proper answer for Shane, which confirmed Shane's horrible suspicions. "I don't know why you care so much about that boring boy," Hannigan finally muttered. "He's nothing special."
"Boring? Jimmy? Apparently you never knew him very well. But is that what you called him, Hannigan, when you touched him? Did you call him boring? Did you give him as many detentions as you could find excuses for, and then insult him, bring him down, only to make yourself the good guy? The only one who would ever love him? Tell me, Hannigan, did you make him feel insignificant so that you could keep him under your thumb? Did you give him good grades even though he was literally learning nothing to make him hurt more? Because you knew he would feel as if he was being bought off, as if he was a prostitute, and you liked it? That is it, is it not? You liked feeling as if you were breaking him, like you were ruining him." Shane was pleased to see Hannigan looked incredibly uncomfortable.
"You… you will never get me fired," Hannigan said coldly. "You have no proof of anything you're saying."
"You are correct. I do not. But that will not stop me from ruining you. You got that?"
"I'm not scared of a silly little high schooler," Hannigan sneered.
"Good, because I am no silly little high schooler," Shane responded. He then walked out of the room with no valediction, leaving Hannigan standing in shock. He then walked straight to the main office. "May I speak to someone important?" he asked the secretary. She gave him a glare.
"Excuse me? You can make an appointment just like anyone else," she scoffed.
"This is about a sexual harassment case, so if you do not put me in contact with someone important I swear to God I will make sure you lose your job. Do this. For me. Now."
Shane was pleased to see his words having such an effect on the secretary, who, almost instantly, let him meet with the Principal.
---
"Hey Shane," Jimmy said when Shane walked up to Jimmy's car, where they had planned to meet the day before.
"Hello Jimmy," Shane responded, hopping inside Jimmy's car without explicit invitation. "We are going to my house."
"Yep," Jimmy said, starting up the car and putting it into first gear. "Did you have a good day today?"
"Today was normal, but yesterday was exceedingly satisfying."
"How come?" Jimmy asked.
"I got a teacher fired," Shane said with glee.
Jimmy, pulling out the school's parking lot, gave Shane a sideways look. "Uh… why did you do that?"
"He was molesting students. A lot of them, apparently, although I only knew of one."
Jimmy started to look incredibly uncomfortable as he drove. "Which teacher was this? He didn't… he wasn't trying to touch you, was he?"
"No, nothing like that," Shane said, waving his hand airily. "By the way, if you turn left here, there is a shortcut to my house," Shane said, gesturing to a side street. Jimmy turned. "He worked at the middle school."
"Uh… who was he?"
"A certain Gary Hannigan. You know him, I presume."
"Uh. Yeah. I do."
"He was your math teacher."
Jimmy stopped at a stop sign, where he had the choice to turn left or right onto the main through-way, but made no move to turn onto the main street. "Excuse me?" Jimmy said, turning his head. "H-how do you know that?"
"I have my ways," Shane said mysteriously.
"I had… I had no idea he was, uh, a molester," Jimmy said softly, gripping the wheel spastically.
"I would have thought you would have figured it out," Shane said sardonically. "After all, I did, and I had never even met the guy."
"How… how did you?"
"I met one of his victims," Shane said softly.
Jimmy stopped talking, finally seeming to remember that he was sitting in the middle of the street. He turned left and the two drove in silence until they reached Shane's house.
"So, we're finishing signs and cosigns?" Jimmy asked quietly when the two entered Shane's living room.
Shane paced around the living room for moment. "No. We are not." Shane flipped around, coming stomach to stomach with Jimmy, and leaned up on his toes to plant a kiss on his lips.
This caused Jimmy to rear back in shock. "W-what? What are you doing?" Jimmy asked.
Shane lowered himself from his tiptoes and looked Jimmy in the eye. "I was kissing you," he responded, although he was pretty certain that was not what Jimmy meant by his question. "I apologize if this offended you." Though I did not think it would.
"O-o-offended?" Jimmy shook his head. "Er, not, not offended, just, confused…" he finally managed to stammer out.
"Confused? About what?" Shane asked, tilting his head to the side. "I find you attractive and I showed this to you through the kiss. This is a very simple concept."
"But, I am confused about why you find me attractive," Jimmy responded quietly.
"You always seem to ask silly questions," Shane responded to Jimmy acerbically, "such as, 'why does a triangle have 180 degrees?' Because that is how it is, Jimmy. A perfect triangle, in our current state of being, will always have 180 degrees because this is reality. In this reality, I find you attractive; I wanted to kiss you, so I did."
"But I'm nothing special," Jimmy said, looking at his feet. "Everyone likes you. You could choose any of them that you wanted."
"That is exactly why I chose you, you dolt," Shane whispered, stroking Jimmy's chin with his fingers. "You are modest, kind, and intelligent. You appreciate the quiet and you still know how to be silly even when you have gone through enough in your life to suppress any sort of silliness. And you think you are not special, but you are."
Jimmy lightly placed his hand on top of Shane's, which was on his chin. "You're special too," he whispered. "I… I don't even have enough words to explain… how what you've done is so important… the tutoring, and, you went to the middle school; oh God, you got him fired, you did that for me… no one's ever…" Jimmy dropped his hand. "Mom and Dad thought I was lying. I ended up telling them I'd just made it up. I thought… I thought everyone would think I was making it up," he whispered.
Shane did not respond, letting Jimmy lean forward until Jimmy's head rested on his shoulder. "Are you… okay with this?" Jimmy asked.
"Are you?"
"I'm totally fine!" Jimmy said. "Does this mean that we're… y'know… boyfriends?"
Shane pulled Jimmy up for one extra chaste kiss. "Maybe if you stop using contractions I will consider it," Shane said affectionately.
The End!